Refrigerator-door mechanism.



/ J. F. OCONNOR.

REFRIGERATOR DOOR MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED APR.21. 1918.

lBY j WTWIJRNEY UNITED sfr-Arns- PATENT OFFICE.

`IoHN F. ofcoNNoR, oF CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIeNon To WILLIAM H. MINER., or cHAzY,

' NEW YORK. l

ImrnIGEnA'ron-noon' MEcHAN'IsM.

i To all whomz'tmay concern ABe 1t known that I, JOHN FJ OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented -av certain new andv "door and door operating mechanism par- .ticularly adapted for refrigerator oars which mechanism is arranged to positively force a single member door to and from closed position. l l

Another and more speciicobject ofthe invention is to provide a single member, Hush refrigerator door .and sim le operating mechanism for positively orcing the door to and from closed flush position, the

' mechanism being such that when the door is in open or outer position, it: can be shifted lengthwise 'so as to leave the door opening clear. j

In'the drawingl forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a refrigerator car showing my improvements. in connection therewith. l Fig. 2 is a horizontal, sectional view, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig..3 is an enlarged, vertical, sectional-view, taken substantially' on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. The dotted lines in this figure indicate the position occupied bv the parts when the door is thrown out an ready to be shifted lengthwise..v AndFig. 4

vthe line 4 4 of Figal.

In said drawing, 10 denotes the side wall .of a refrigerator car or other structure hav- 7 ing a door openin 11 formed therein. All

the surrounding e ges ofsaid door opening are inwardly beveled, asv indicatedat` 12.

tinguish the door from the usual type of refrigerator doorfwhich comprisestwo oppositely swinging hinged door members.

` said door 13 has its edges also beveled,` as

I55 fthe door is provided withranyn'sual or'suitindicated at 14, and in order to 'form a seal,

v Specification of Letters Patent.v

'shoulders 23 formed at t is Va detail, ho-rizontal, sectional view, taken substantlally on The Patented Apr.`15,1919.

Application med April 27, 191s. serial No. 231,102.y

opening and door are so designed that the door will assume an approximately flush position with the outer For the purpose of both supporting the lower longitudinally extending rail 17, both of said rails being secured to the 'car in any suitable manner. Slidable on the upper rail 16 is a carriage 18 having a Suitable longitudinally extending groove onrecess 19 to accommodate the down-turned flange of the rail, as shown in Fig. 3. In order to mini- Inize friction, the carriage 18 is provided With a pair of rollers 20-20 at itsv ends vwhich bear directly on the.v edge of the rail.

iMounted on the lower rail 17 is a corresponding carriage 21 having anti-friction rollers22-22. The carriages 18 and'21 are limited in their movement toward the left, as-viewed in Fig. V1, b `suitable stops or lie ends of the rails 16 and 17.

v J ournaled on the door 13 are two similar operating shafts 24 and 25. Eachlof these shafts preferably consistsl of a central secsurface of the car wall.

able Spring-pressed packing 15. The door d oor and the operating mechanism, I prov1de an'upper, longitudinally extending railV .16 preferably in the form of a Z-bar and a tion 26 formed of a rectangular -bar and to which lis attached at its Vends upper and Vlower crank members 27-27., The crank.

members 27ers each provided with journal portions 28.-28 rotatably mounted in suitable bearings 29-29 carried bythe door. At their outer ends, the crank members 27 have offset crank, pins 30-30 journaled in the corresponding carriages 18 and 21. Said crank members 27 are provided lwithsuitable collars 40 and 41 to properly support the door from the shafts, will be understood from inspection of Fig. 3. The shaft 26 lis provided with a pivoted` operating lever 31 by which the shaft is adapted to be rotated. Said lever is arranged to be latched and sealedinthe usual manner, as indicated at 32. A

Each of the lower crank members 27 ofthe shafts 24 and 25 is formed with a gear or :pinion 33 extending into suitable journal bearings-provided therefor in the carriage 21. -Thecarriage 21 is provided with a lon- `gitndinally extending fgroove 34 in which is slidablymounted a rack lbar 35 coperable i with the gears or pinions 33-33.

Assuming the parts is in the position in Fig. 4.'

shown by the full lines of the drawing, the door is `opened by the operator swinging the shaft 24 by means of the lever 31. As the y its rotatlve movement will bev positively communicated to the shaft 25 so -that both shafts will rotate uniformly and simultaneously. With the door 13 swung outwardly as above described, it is evident that the entire arrangement,door, shafts and carriages, can then be moved to one side of the Y door opening.

With the arrangement shown and described, I obtain a very powerful action in forcing the door to and from closed posi` v tion which is highly essential when employed on a refrigerator requiring the usual springspres'sed packing around the meeting edges of the door; The arrangement is also simple and can be operated as readily as the door mechanisms now most generally in use.

Furthermore, the door is always held in a v slidalb-ly mounted definite position with respect to the oar and all dangerof -the door being thrown outwardly and side-swiped is' avoided, an important improvement when compared with the usual type of hinged refrigerator doors.

I claim: i

In a refrigerator car having a door opening and a singleelement door adapted to be positioned within the door opening Hush 'with the side wall of the car, the combination of upper and lower tracks secured to `the car, of a carriage `s'lidably mounted on each of said tracks, a pair of shafts journaled on said door, each shaft having crank arms at its ends, the upper crank' arms of both shafts being journaled in the carriage slidable on the upper track and the lower crank arms of the two shafts being' journaled in the carriage slidable on the lower track, two of said crank' arms being provided with gears disposed within they corresponding. carriage, a rack bar longitudinally coperable with said gears, and means for directly rotating'one of said shafts whereby, rotative 'movement of said shaft directly actuated will be positively communicated to the. other shaft through said rackbar and gears. i

Inwitness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day-l of April, 1918.

,l JOHN F. OCONNOR.

within said carriage and 

